Tradition
by ViDez
Summary: I've decided to submit this early. Woot! Merry Christmas! Mello has been on the naughty list for two years running, and Near decides to do something nice for him. MelloxNear - Some OOC-ness


**A/N: Alright, I worked hard on this Christmas fic for you guys. It's an obvious MelloxNear. **

**Yes, I'm obsessed. XD**

**Well, enjoy!**

* * *

In Wammy's House, it was strict tradition to write a letter to Santa Claus every year, whether you've been naughty or nice, or no matter how old you are.

--

_**December 10th**_

'_What do I want…?'_

The fireplace was bristling with a burning flame, occasionally crackling in the peaceful silence…

'_I… do not know…'_

In a corner of the room was a grand Christmas tree, decorated with baubles and tinsel. On the top was a golden star, gleaming beautifully in the dim light. On the branches of the tree were folded letters written to Santa, including Roger's, Watari's, and L's. Few more children have to complete their letters…

'_This is stupid,'_ Near thought to himself, tapping his pencil on the wooden table. In front of him was a sheet of paper, white like his hair and blank, except for the writing up top…

_Dear Santa…_

'_I don't know what I want!'_ Near frowned, putting the end of the pencil to his upper lip. _'I've already gotten the puzzle I wanted from L a few days ago.'_ The blank, three thousand-piece puzzle was lying unfinished on Near's bedroom floor, about a thousand pieces left to connect until completion.

He sighed, rested his head on his arm, turned and looked out the window. His obsidian eyes stared at the falling snowflakes, entranced by them. The sky was as dark as coal, complimenting the white flakes falling gently onto the ground. The boy let a small, content smile creep onto his face, spellbound by the peaceful scene happening outside in the blistering cold.

The serene silence was broken, however, by the 'dynamic duo'. Their names were Mello and Matt. Mello confidently marched into the room, making a ruckus and startling Near out of his trance. But the white-haired boy kept still, not wanting to alert them of his presence. He kept his head turned away from them, buried his head into his arms and pretended to nap, making sure he was breathing in deeply.

--

"Sheesh, Mels." Matt muttered, "You're making a freaking noise. People are sleeping."

Mello rolled his eyes, "Whatever," He drawled, "We're pretty far from the bedrooms anyway…"

The gamer hushed his best friend and pointed at the nearby wooden desk. Mello's sapphire eyes followed his finger and saw Near, his head buried in his arms and sleeping soundly. His chest was slowly rising and falling, indicating he was in a deep sleep.

The chocoholic frowned. "What's he doing here?" He muttered. Mello calmly walked up to the boy and took the paper from under his elbows. Near almost stiffened as Mello's fingers came in contact with his hair.

"Dear Santa…" Mello frowned and placed the paper back on the table. He turned to Matt, "He fell asleep while writing his letter." He informed quietly, "He didn't write what he wanted yet."

"Should we wake him up?" Matt asked, adjusting his goggles.

"Let him be," Mello replied swiftly and took out his letter from his jeans pocket. "We gotta put these on the tree anyway." Matt quickly followed his example and took out his own letter. The two put their letters on the tree next to each other, up near the top of the tree.

"Hey Mello…" Matt started, "D'ya think you'll get a present this year from Santa?"

Mello growled angrily at his best friend for bringing up the subject, "Matt, shut up." He bit out. "And no, I don't think I'll be getting a present this year."

"…Sorry, should've kept my mouth shut…" Matt muttered. "Then, why write the letter?"

"Believe it or not, Matt, I can't break tradition." Mello chuckled a bit then sighed sadly, "If Santa doesn't give me my present _this_ year, then this will be my third year on missing out..."

"S'alright, Mels!" Matt exclaimed, trying to cheer his best friend up. "I know what'll do ya good: a nice hot cocoa! C'mon!" The gamer dragged the blonde out the room and to the kitchen. Mello didn't protest and just let himself be dragged by Matt.

--

When the two left the room, Near finally sat up slowly and looked around. The white-haired boy looked at the two new letters added onto the tree, particularly Mello's. He frowned and turned back to his own piece of paper.

'_So Santa put Mello on the naughty list for two years…'_ He mused, picking up his pencil and twirling his white locks with it. _'Mello is a bit of a bully…'_ The boy then thought of all the things Mello had done to him in the past year. _'He won't be getting a present this year then.'_ He sighed.

Suddenly, a thought came to him.

And Near finally knew what he wanted.

--

_**December 23rd**_

L was surprised to find a letter addressed to him on the Christmas tree this morning. He tilted his head slightly, confused. He reached out and grabbed the letter between his thumb and index finger, examining it in the light.

'_Well, here goes.'_ He opened up the letter and saw the neat writing inside. His gunmetal eyes widened when he saw who it was from…

_Dear L Lawliet,_

_One of your successors, Nate River, has asked a peculiar thing of me._

_As you know your other successor, Mihael Keehl, has been on the naughty list for two years running now. Unfortunately he will be on it again, as I haven't seen him improve his actions towards other people, particularly Nate. Nate has just recently found out about Mihael's predicament, and is willing to help._

_He has asked me to let Mihael get his present this year, in exchange for his own._

_Nate has been a good boy throughout the years and I cannot refuse his wishes. But I also do not want him to be left out. Little Nate likes Mihael very much, and does not want to see him upset…_

_Please do something about this Lawliet, as I am terribly busy._

_Merry Christmas from me to you, _

_Santa Claus_

_PS: Your candy cane tower you asked from me is ready, and will be delivered to you on Christmas morning._

L sighed, folded the letter neatly and slipped it in his jeans pocket. His eyes averted to the golden star on top of the tree.

'_Hmm…?'_ He spotted a particular object hanging innocently on a branch, and that's when the detective got an idea.

--

_**December 25th**_

"It's Christmas, it's Christmas!" Matt shouted happily, jumping up and down on his bed. Peeved from being woken up by his best friend, Mello growled and muttered something under his breath.

"Don't be such a grumpy goose," Matt exclaimed, "its contagious!"

"Whatever," Mello mumbled. The chocoholic sat up from his bed and rubbed his eyes groggily. He stood up and shuffled out the door, Matt following happily.

'_I am not in the mood for this…'_ The blonde thought, yawning. He walked down the hallways to the direction of the lounge room, but bumped into someone along the way.

"Sorry," A familiar voice said sleepily.

Mello sighed, "It's alright, Near."

Near walked next to Mello, "What did you ask for from Santa?" He asked softly.

"A necklace," Mello smiled wistfully, "Just a necklace."

"That's good…" The white-haired boy let out a small smile, surprising Mello.

"What about you?" Matt asked, bounding giddily up next to Near. "What did you ask for?"

"I…"

"Keep going boys," L drawled from behind, startling them. "You're walking slowly."

"S-Sorry L," Matt chuckled weakly, took Near by the hand and dragged him to the lounge. Mello made a move to follow, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked up to see L staring at him.

"L?" He said uncertainly.

"I want you to be nice to Near today," He said, "He did a good thing for you. Now go."

Mello blinked confusedly, but walked into the lounge room with L following closely behind him.

--

The room was littered with ecstatic children, each one opening up their wrapped presents happily. Mello spotted Near on one corner of the room, crouching and watching the other children crowd around the tree and get their presents. _'He must be waiting for an opportunity to get his…'_ The chocoholic chuckled when he saw Matt squeezing out the crowd with two wrapped gifts in his arms…

Wait… two?!

"I've got news for you, Mels!" Matt laughed, "Santa gave you a present!"

Mello took his gift from Matt, stunned. He stared at the black and white wrapping paper, mesmerised. He slowly took off the wrapping paper, being careful not to rip it, and it unveiled a box. Mello licked his lips and opened the box, revealing not just one, but two necklaces forming 'Yin' and 'Yang'.

Matt whistled appreciatively, "Nice!" He exclaimed, "It's shiny too… Hey, there's a letter!"

Mello took out the letter from the box, opened it up and read it…

_Dear Mihael Keehl,_

_Someone has requested of me to let you off the hook and give you your present. You were meant to be on the naughty list this year, but this person decided to give up his yearly present to give you another chance._

_I'm afraid I cannot tell you who he is, you'll have to find out for yourself from the clues I have given you in this letter._

_You're a smart boy, you can figure it out!_

_Merry Christmas,_

_Santa Claus_

_PS: Please, please, please be a good boy!_

Mello carefully re-read the letter again. The person was obviously a 'he', so he was looking for a guy. 'Yearly' meant that he's been getting a present from Santa each year. _'Well that narrows it down to quite a bit._' He mused. But he gave up his present for his, so that means he must not have a gift…

He looked around and gritted his teeth, frustrated. There were a few children that didn't get any presents, but he didn't even talk to them so he didn't know if they got gifts yearly…

L's words rang in his head, _'He did a good thing for you…'_

His sapphire eyes zoned in on one person and they made eye contact.

Near.

--

'_Where is it?' _Near sighed and looked around for the missing white puzzle piece. He stood up from the carpet and looked around the room, lit by the crackling fire. His dark eyes looked at the clock on the wall.

_9:45pm…_

The white-haired boy sighed tiredly and sat down in front of the fireplace, staring at the dancing flames. _'Mello…'_

Near heard something behind him and swiftly turned his head around. He saw Mello come in with one hand in his pocket, the other examining a white puzzle piece. The blonde smirked at Near, bent down to his puzzle and placed the last piece in the designated position.

"I found it on the ground, in the hallway." Mello explained, "You must've dropped it while you were carrying your puzzle here."

"Oh…" Near smiled softly, "Thank you Mello."

"No Near," Mello protested, "Thank you. For y'know, sacrificing your gift from Santa for mine." He walked over to Near and sat down beside him, staring into the fire. Near blushed at the proximity between them.

Mello noticed him blushing, "You okay?" He asked naively.

"Ah," Near quickly controlled his blush. "Yes, I am."

…

"Oh!" Mello exclaimed, breaking the silence and slightly startling Near. "I almost forgot. Here." He took the necklace box out from his pocket, opened it and handed the black 'Yin' necklace to Near.

"Yin…" Near whispered, "Dark, passive, soft, tranquil…"

Mello took out his own necklace, "Yang," He muttered, the white symbol dangling from the thin silver chain. "Bright, proactive, hard, boisterous…" He listed the exact opposite of what Near said. Near giggled, his smile creeping back on his face again.

Mello put on his own necklace, clipping the clasp on behind his neck. He took the 'Yin' necklace from Near's small hands and clipped it on his neck, brushing his fingers slightly on his spine. Near shivered.

"Your hands are cold," He pouted. Mello chuckled.

The younger boy sighed contently, looked up and froze. Mello followed his gaze and blinked.

Mistletoe.

How cliché.

"Mello…" Near mumbled shyly, "We don't have to do it if you don't want to…"

But Mello took Near's chin and made him look up. He then descended his lips to his soft ones, closing his eyes contently in the process. Near's eyes widened, but he kissed back with the same passion as Mello.

'_I can't break tradition…'_

_--_

"Mission accomplished." L smirked, walking back to his bedroom.

* * *

**A/N: L's a devious panda, no?**

**Merry Christmas to you guys!**

**Aaaand....**

**Review!**


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